Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano says the idea that the Blues have won trophies simply because they have spent more money than everyone else is nonsense.
City booked their place in a second-ever Champions League final with a statement 4-0 second-leg victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday, leaving them three games from a historic treble. They can win the Premier League title with victory over Chelsea on Sunday - if Arsenal's result on Saturday hasn't already crowned them champions - before an FA Cup final with Manchester United and a Champions League final against Inter Milan.
Speaking after the Madrid game, Soriano hit out at critics of City's spending, naming Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea as sides who have all spent more than City but haven't matched the Blues' domestic dominance and European consistency in recent years.
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Soriano told Movistar: "Look, you only have to look at the investment in players in England in the last year, three years, five years… we are never the club spending the most on players. There are many other clubs investing more money than us – Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal.
"Saying that we’ve spent a lot of money and we won because of that is just not true."
Soriano also spoke of City's expectancy to win the Champions League, insisting that the club hierarchy accept that winning the competition is not as easy as setting it as an aim within a set time period.
"The Champions League is a bit symbolic," he explained. "We work every day for the Premier League, it’s a very difficult tournament to win. If we do it this year, it will be the third in a row, five in six years.
"From my experience, I know that you cannot base all your strategy on winning the Champions League, because it depends on the draw, a bad day… but yes, when we win it, which we will do one day, it will be something symbolic."
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